Pages

Sunday, 8 December 2013

SWAMI RAMA TIRTHA: THE SECRET OF SUCCESS

Described as “one of the
greatest souls, not only of India, but of the whole world” by Mahatma Gandhi,Swami Rama Tirtha(1873-1906) was a living embodiment of
the teachings of Advaita Vedanta.

Swami Rama Tirtha visited the United States
from 1902-1904 and was one of the first great Swamis to bring the message of
Vedanta to the U.S., Japan and Egypt, following in the footsteps of
Vivekananda.

InWoods ofGod Realizationis a complete
collection of his writings and lectures. In this work, Swami Rama
Tirtha presents a practical and inspiring view of Vedanta and also discusses
various topics such as God-realization, Vedanta,Christianityand Islam, war and peace, and India's destiny.

My
own Self in the form of students and teachers, Does
it not appear strange for a stranger from India to
speak on a subject which is evidently more intelligently
wielded by Japan than India? It may be.
But Rama stands here before you as a teacher for
reasons more than one.

To
carry out skilfully an idea into practice is one thing,
but to grasp its fundamental meaning is quite another.
Even though a nation may be prospering by
acting up to certain general principles today, there
is every danger of its downfall if those principles
are not distinctly supported by sound theory. A labourer who successfully performs a chemical
operation is not a chemist, because his work
is not supplemented by theory. A fireman who
successfully works a steam-engine is not an engineer,
because his labour is simply mechanical.

We
read about a doctor who used to heal wounds by
keeping the diseased part under linen bandage for
a full week and touching it daily with a sword.

The
wounds were healed, being kept from exposure
by the bandage. But he ascribed the wonderful
healing property to the touch of the sword.
So thought his patients too.

This superstitious
theory gave birth to failures upon failures
in many cases that required some other treatment
than mere bandaging. Hence it is absolutely
necessary that right precept and right practice
should go hand-in-hand. Rama regards Japan
his country and her people as his countrymen.
Rama can prove on reasonable grounds
that in the beginning your ancestors migrated
from India.

Your
ancestors are Rama‟s ancestors. Rama comes to
shake hands with you as your brother and not as a
stranger. Rama has another ground which equally entitles
him to this privilege. Rama is a Japanese from
his very birth in regard to his temper, manners,
habits and sympathies. With these forewords,
let us come to the subject.

The
secret of success is an open secret. Everybody has
got something to say on the subject, and perhaps
you often heard its general principles enunciated,
but the vital importance of the subject justifies
any amount of emphasis driving it home into
the minds of the people.

PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS

1-Work

At
the outset let us put this question to Nature around
us. All the "books in running brooks and sermons
in stones" preach with unmistakable accent
the gospel of continuous, incessant work. Light
bestows upon us the power of sight. Light gives
a mainspring to all beings.

Let us see what light
is thrown on the question by light itself. Rama will
take for illustration the ordinary light—the lamp.
The underlying secret of a lamp‟s lustre and splendour
is that it spares not its wick and oil. The wick
and oil or the little self is being constantly consumed
and glory is the natural consequence.

There
it is, the lamp says, spare yourself and you will
be immediately extinguished. If you seek ease and
comfort for your bodies and waste your time in sensual
pleasures and luxury, there is no hope for you.
Inactivity, in other words, would bring death to
you, and activity and activity alone is life.

Look at
the stagnant pond and the running stream. The crystal
water of the rustling river is ever fresh, clear,
drinkable and attractive. But on the other hand
see how disgusting, odorous, filthy, dirty, stinking
and stenching is the water of the stagnant pond. If you wish to succeed, follow the line of action,
the constant motion of a river. There is no hope
for a man who would waste his wick and oil by
preserving it from consumption.

Follow the policy
of a river, ever progressing, ever assimilating,
ever adapting itself to the environments
and ever performing work, ever performing
work is the first principle of success. From
good to better daily, self surpassed. If
you work on this principle, you will see that "It is as
easy to be great as to be small."

2-Self-Sacrifice

Everybody
loves white objects. Let us examine the cause
of their being the objects of universal love. Let
us account for the success of the white. The black
objects are everywhere hated, discarded and rejected,
and let us take this fact as it is and account for
it.

Physics tells us the reality of the phenomenon of
colour. Red is not red, green is not green; black is not
black, and all is not what is seems. The red rose gets
its lovely colour by reflecting or throwing back that
colour. The other colours in the Sun‟s rays
are entirely
absorbed by the rose and nobody attributes those
colours to the rose.

The green leaf absorbs all other
colours in light and appears fresh and green by
the very colour which it denies to itself and throws
back. Black objects have the property of absorbing
all colours and reflecting no light. They have
no spirit of sacrifice in them and no charity. They
do not renounce even a single ray. They do not
throw back even an iota of what they receive.

Nature
tells you that black, black like coal, shall he appear
who refuses to give unto his neighbours what
he receives. The way to receive it to give. The secret
of appearing white is the total renunciation—to
throw back instantaneously on your
neighbours all that you receive. Acquire this virtue
of white objects and you must be successful.

What
does Rama mean by white? Europeans? Not Europeans
alone, the white mirror, the white pearl, the
white dove, the white snow, all the emblems of purity
and righteousness stand as your great teachers.
Imbibe, therefore, the spirit of sacrifice and
reflect unto others all that you receive. Have no recourse
to selfish absorption and you must be white.

A seed in order that it may bud forth into a tree
must perish itself. Fruition is thus the final result
of complete self-sacrifice. All teachers will bear
Rama out in the statement that the more we impart
the light of knowledge, the more we receive.The Secret of Success [Poem] Swami Rama Tirtha: [Click Here]